Profile: Tim Whitacre

Tim Whitacre was a participant or observer in the following events:

The altered photograph sent out by California ‘tea party’ activist Marilyn Davenport. She claims the depiction is not racist. [Source: Orange County Weekly]Marilyn Davenport, a member of the Orange County (California) Republican Party (OCGOP) and a prominent tea party activist, sends an email to “a few friends” depicting President Obama as a half-ape “child” sitting on the laps of chimpanzee parents. The photograph is headed by the words, “Now you know why no birth certificate” (see June 13, 2008). Davenport attempts to laugh off the email as a joke, telling a reporter: “Oh, come on! Everybody who knows me knows that I am not a racist. It was a joke. I have friends who are black. Besides, I only sent it to a few people—mostly people I didn’t think would be upset by it.” Other local Republicans are less amused. One of her fellow OCGOP members, who refuses to be identified, says: “It’s unbelievable. It’s much more racist than the watermelon email. I can’t believe it was sent out. I’m not an Obama fan but how stupid do you have to be to do this?” The member is referring to a February 2009 email sent out by another Orange County Republican, then-Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose, who emailed a picture of a watermelon patch in front of the White House and then denied the picture was racist (see February 24-26, 2009). Another Republican official who also refuses to be identified says that Davenport is “a really, really sweet old lady so I am surprised to hear about this.” In a telephone conversation, OCGOP chairman Scott Baugh tells Davenport the email is tasteless. When contacted by a reporter from the Orange County Weekly, Davenport asks: “You’re not going to make a big deal about this are you? It’s just an Internet joke.” Baugh tells a reporter that it is indeed a big deal. “When I saw that email today I thought it was despicable,” he says. “It is dripping with racism and it does not promote the type of message Orange County Republicans want to deliver to the public. I think she should consider stepping down as an elected official.” Michael J. Schroeder, an Orange County resident and former California Republican Party chairman, calls the email disgusting. “This is a three strikes situation for Marilyn Davenport,” Schroeder says. Schroeder cites Davenport’s impassioned defense of a former Newport Beach city councilman who made explicitly racist slurs against “Mexicans,” and her defense of Grose and the watermelon picture. “Now, she has managed to top both of those incidents by comparing African-Americans to monkeys. She has disgraced herself and needs to resign. If she doesn’t, the Republican Party must remove her.” Davenport responds by sending an angry email to fellow California conservative activists demanding to know the identity of “the coward” who supplied a copy of her email to the press. She refuses to speak to at least two reporters, blaming the “liberal media” for the controversy. She later sends another email to fellow Orange County Republican elected officials, apologizing if anyone was offended and again blaming the “liberal media” for reporting the story. She writes: “I’m sorry if my email offended anyone. I simply found it amusing regarding the character of Obama and all the questions surrounding his origin of birth. In no way did I even consider the fact he’s half black when I sent out the email. In fact, the thought never entered my mind until one or two other people tried to make this about race. We all know a double standard applies regarding this president. I received plenty of emails about George Bush that I didn’t particularly like yet there was no ‘cry’ in the media about them. One only has to go to Youtube or Google Images to see a plethora of lampooning videos and pictures of Obama, Bush, and other politicians. That being said, I will NOT resign my central committee position over this matter that the average person knows and agrees is much to do about nothing. Again, for those select few who might be truly offended by viewing a copy of an email I sent to a select list of friends and acquaintances, unlike the liberal left when they do the same, I offer my sincere apologies to you—the email was not meant for you. For any of my friends or acquaintances who were the recipients of my email and were truly offended, please call me so I may offer a sincere verbal apology to you.” Orange County Republican activist Tim Whitacre defends Davenport, telling a reporter: “Marilyn Davenport is a staunch, ethical Republican lady. There is nothing unethical about this from a party standpoint because it wasn’t sent out to the party at large with any racist statements and it wasn’t signed as a central committee member. As a private individual, she is just real big on birther stuff. One of her passions that drives her is the president’s lack of forthrightness about where he was born. Marilyn believes that nobody knows where he was born and so this picture says a thousand words. She is not a perfect lady, but she is no racist. She is a gentle person who would feed you, help you, be there for you if you were in trouble. She is known as a pleasant, loving person and it kills me that she is being attacked by this non-story knowing her mindset.” [Orange County Weekly, 4/15/2011; KCAL-TV, 4/15/2011; CBS Los Angeles, 4/15/2011] Baugh says that he wants an ethics investigation into Davenport’s actions. [Associated Press, 4/15/2011] Conservative blogger Charles Johnson calls Davenport’s message “a vicious racist email about the first African-American president,” and writes, “This latest sickening example makes the connection between birtherism and old-school racism utterly explicit.” [Charles Johnson, 4/15/2011]

Marilyn Davenport. [Source: Angry Black Lady (.com)]Marilyn Davenport, the Orange County, California, Republican Party official and tea party activist who sent out an email of President Obama and his parents as chimpanzees (see April 15, 2011), apologizes for her error, calling herself an “imperfect Christian,” and says she sees no reason to resign her post as a member of the county GOP’s central committee. She reads a statement to reporters that includes a Bible passage from the Book of James. The statement reads in part: “To my fellow Americans who have seen the email that I forwarded and were offended by my actions, I humbly apologize. I ask for your forgiveness for my unwise behavior. I didn’t stop to think about the historic implications and other examples of how this could be offensive. I’m an imperfect Christian gal who does her best to live a Godly life. I would never do anything to intentionally harm or berate others regardless of ethnicity. Everyone who knows me, knows that to be true. I will not repeat this error. So I ask for your forgiveness, for I am truly sorry.” Asked by reporters who she believes she offended, she says: “I assume I have offended the black people. Having friends who are black, I never intended for that.” The Orange County Republican Central Committee is slated to meet to discuss the issue. Committee member Tim Whitacre says Davenport will not attend, because she has received death threats. Whitacre says, “She’s horrified this has happened and she’s horrified anyone would be offended by this.” Whitacre says that since Davenport has apologized, it is time for people to move on without further comment. “It was a private email from her private house to some private friends,” Whitacre says. “I am not defending the email. No one is defending the content of the email. What I am defending, I know this lady’s mindset and her heart. I know there’s nothing in her history that would say racist.” Republican Party of Orange County chairman Scott Baugh says that the committee can pass a resolution critical of Davenport, and that is about all it can do. “The bottom line is state law precludes the committee from terminating her membership,” Baugh says. “She’s an elected member, elected by the public, and there are very narrow reasons you can remove her, and her racist email is not one of them.” Civil rights leader Earl Ofari Hutchinson says Davenport should resign. “The request by Orange County GOP chair Scott Baugh for Davenport’s resignation and pending investigation is not enough,” he says in an email to a Los Angeles NBC station. “The Reverend Al Sharpton has also demanded Davenport’s resignation.… We must send the message that racism will not be tolerated. Racism will be condemned anytime by anybody.” Hutchinson says the Republican National Committee should formally censure Davenport for her email “of a racist, inflammatory, and despicable photo depicting President Obama and his family as monkeys,” and should urge the Orange County GOP to issue an apology to Obama. “Anything less than censure and an apology reinforces the notion that the national GOP tacitly condones racist words and acts by its officials,” Hutchinson says. [KABC-TV, 4/18/2011; NBC Los Angeles, 4/20/2011] Alice Huffman, president of the NAACP’s California State Conference, says: “There are no ifs and buts about this cartoon; it is absolutely and positively racist in nature. There is no way that depicting the president of the United States as less than human can be considered anything but a racist act.” Former GOP state chairman Michael J. Schroeder says, “The damage to the Republican Party has been by her, and I still think she should resign.” [The Root, 4/20/2011] In an interview, Davenport says she worries she has lost her reputation. “I understand why everyone is contacting me,” she says. “I wasn’t wise in sending the email out. I shouldn’t have done it. I really wasn’t thinking when I did it. I had poor judgment.… Everybody who knows me says they can’t believe people are calling me a racist.” Davenport says that she received the doctored photo of a chimpanzee Obama from a tea party activist, and that the photo is based on the media frenzy prompted by Donald Trump’s claims that Obama might have been born in Africa and therefore is not a US citizen (see February 10, 2011, March 17, 2011, March 23, 2011, March 23, 2011, March 28, 2011, March 28-29, 2011, March 30, 2011, April 1, 2011, April 1, 2011, April 1-8, 2011, April 7, 2011, April 7, 2011, April 7-10, 2011, April 7, 2011, April 10, 2011, and April 14-15, 2011). [Orange County Weekly, 4/18/2011]

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